Eri Yoshida

The 16-year-old knuckleballer will be the first woman to play on a professional baseball team, after being drafted by Japan’s Kobe 9 Cruise on Nov. 17. Cynics have suggested the pick was a publicity stunt by the team, part of the country’s new Independent League. But the manager who picked Yoshida said he did so because of her formidable sidearm knuckleball, which Yoshida has said she modeled after pitcher Tim Wakefield of the Boston Red Sox.